Major heart surgery for former Lorenzo team manager Wilco Zeelenberg

Former MotoGP team manager Wilco Zeelenberg has announced that he had to undergo major heart surgery at the end of June. As a result, the Dutchman missed, amongst other events, the Dutch Grand Prix at Assen and the Sachsenring, and has now posted a health update on Instagram.

“As some of you may have noticed, I wasn’t at the Dutch Grand Prix last month. There was a reason for that,” wrote Zeelenberg. What was initially planned as a routine health check-up unexpectedly turned into a serious medical procedure.

Open-heart surgery

Originally, the plan was simply to carry out a scheduled angioplasty involving the insertion of a stent. However, the very next day, the doctors had to perform open-heart surgery.

“The surgeons fitted three bypasses to my heart,” explained the Dutchman. Four weeks after the procedure, Zeelenberg is already feeling optimistic again. “I’m already feeling much better and my recovery is going well,” reported the former MotoGP team manager. At the same time, he thanked the doctors treating him, as well as his family, friends and all his fans for their many get-well wishes.

Wilco Zeelenberg kümmerte sich bei Yamaha jahrelang um Jorge Lorenzo

Foto: Gold & Goose

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For many years, Zeelenberg was one of the most recognisable faces in the MotoGP paddock. After his active career as a Grand Prix rider, he initially worked as Jorge Lorenzo’s team manager at Yamaha. He then moved to the Petronas SRT team, which later competed as RNF Racing and eventually came under the Trackhouse Racing umbrella. His role with the team came to an end in late 2023 with the arrival of Davide Brivio as team principal.

Since then, Zeelenberg has been working as a MotoGP expert for the Dutch television channel Ziggo Sport. He recently had to take a break from that role as well due to injury. However, the 59-year-old has now announced his imminent return. “You’ll soon be seeing me back as a MotoGP analyst on Ziggo Sport,” Zeelenberg promised. At the same time, he gave the all-clear for his own event, “Meet The Speed”: “The 25th-anniversary edition is definitely going ahead – and I can’t wait to be there.”